Mayawati hits back at Rahul Gandhi, calls Congress anti-Dalit

Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Wednesday made a scathing attack on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi a day after the latter accused the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister of usurping the Dalit movement in the country.

Addressing a press briefing in the state capital, Mayawati said that Congress is highly biased against Dalits and has done nothing to improve the situation of scheduled castes and the marginalised section of the society.
Attacking Congress further, the BSP chief said, "Congress has displayed its bias by not declaring a national condolence day on the death anniversary of BSP founder Kanshiram."

The scathing remarks from Maywati came a day after Gandhi blamed the BSP chief for blocking the rise of Dalit leaders in the country.

Congress vice president also said that there was an urgent need to uplift the Dalit community in India.

"In the second stage of the Dalit movement, the production of leaders stopped, Mayawati-ji has captured the leadership and she does not let people come up," Gandhi further said.
Gandhi said this while addressing a national awareness camp on Scheduled Caste empowerment here.

"Though it is her personal choice, it is a great time for Congress party who has a history of working for Dalits," he added.

The Congress vice president also said that the Congress party, in a systematic manner, will have Dalit leaders at the panchayat, legislative and even the policy level.